A Global Partnership Initiative of the Jesuit Schools Network
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Dear Global Companions:
Global is here! We are being called to take part in our global network, how will we respond?
What can you do? The guidelines are all right here in the
JESEDU-RIO 2017 Action Statement,
with more detailed ideas in the
Rio Hub
. Have you tried the
Global Citizenship Course
for educators? It is free and a resume booster too. Educate Magis seems to be everywhere; essential in our global network. Be sure you are
signed up,
and then you can begin to collaborate with your global colleagues.
A special shout out to BCHigh who is tagging their Instagram photos #JSNGlobal! Check out some of their global activities below.
It is with continued joy and my heartfelt hope of fostering JSN collaboration and connections that we offer the October issue of JSN Hemispheres!
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"To act as a universal body with a universal mission"
GC35, D.2 #20
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Catharine Steffens
Director of Global Partnerships
Jesuit Schools Network
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Does Global require travel?
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This editor says no. What do you think? What are you doing in your school to engage globally without leaving campus? What is happening in the classroom? On your fields? At club meetings? In your community? Virtually?
Too often the beautiful treasures and moments happening within our school walls take a back seat to flashier trips and exchanges. Hemispheres would like to change that. Last month our most opened article was the wonderful UN SDG Global Art of Sascha Gordon-Manning at Portland Jesuit. Please share global projects, collaborations, activities and connections on your behalf or on behalf of someone else's good work taking place at your school.
Together, let's make Hemispheres a central space where we can find out how our Jesuit Schools Network schools and colleagues are engaging. Please forward to colleagues, and send stories, ideas, thoughts and questions to
Hemispheres
.
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Do you know your "
Education Delegate
"?
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Last week Jesuit schools and Provinces around the world celebrated the one year anniversary of JESEDU-Rio2017, the first
International Congress of Jesuit
Education Delegates
. This gave us an opportunity to look at how we have been implementing the JESEDU-Rio Action Statement. Here we look at how the
US Central & Southern Province
and the
Canadian Province
have been responding to the 13 Actions outlined by the Education Delegates.
We are also reminded by Fr. General of the commitment by all Education Delegates and Jesuit schools to “advance in the construction and consolidation of a global network of schools with a common agenda at the service of reconciliation and justice”
.
How are you working to be part of the global network
?
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*In our Jesuit Schools Network our Education Delegates are the Provincial Assistants for Secondary and Pre-Secondary Education (PASE). You can find your PASE and Assistant PASE at
Province Offices.
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Fordham Prep - Engaging with the Action Statements
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JESEDU-Rio2017, the International Congress of the Jesuit Education Delegates, held in October of 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, brought together education delegates from all six Conferences of the Society of Jesus, members of regional school networks, and members of the International Commission on the Apostolate of Jesuit Education. The goal of the Congress was to create a common global agenda with the capability to orient the work of the Jesuit worldwide school network as an answer to the call from General Congregation 35 “to act as a universal body with a universal mission.” At the conclusion of the Congress, the delegates presented an action statement in which they proposed 13 actions for Jesuit education apostolates throughout the world. Several of these actions relate to promoting global networking among schools and the promotion of global competency in our work with students and faculty.
General Congregation 36 reminds us that collaboration naturally leads to cooperation through networks. New technologies of communication open up forms of organization that facilitate collaboration. They make it possible to mobilize human and material resources in support of mission, and to go beyond national borders and the boundaries of Province and Regions. (D.3 #8) To answer this call our schools and local and regional networks are required to commit to be in global companionship so that our school communities can see themselves as a part of a universal body with a universal mission (GC35 D2 #20). This is indeed a new mindset and way of proceeding that demands our creativity and commitment to find ways to work together and accomplish a new level of agency for our schools. This process will make our schools stronger locally and globally and more relevant to the societies we serve. (JESEDU-Rio2017 Action Statement)
Fordham Prep’s recent expansion of our Global Education program includes new partnerships with Jesuit schools in Australia, Ireland, Italy and Rwanda. These partnerships have helped to deepen our commitment to global networking and collaboration and are part of our response to JSEDU-Rio2017.
I had the privilege of experiencing the graces of these new partnerships this past June when I accompanied a group of Fordham Prep and Boston College High School students on a two-week exchange experience with St. Ignatius School in Kigali, Rwanda. St. Ignatius was founded by the Jesuits in 2001 in response to the nationwide reconciliation and healing process that followed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Today the school educates just over 1,000 students in grades K through 12. While at St. Ignatius, our students attended classes, participated in cultural experiences, engaged in a collaborative retreat experience and lived with host families.
During our time in Rwanda we experienced the incredible hospitality of the Rwandan people. A phrase we heard numerous times, “you are most welcome”, accompanied every greeting upon entering a new place. The warmth and kindness of the Rwandan people indeed made us feel most welcome in a place that, while far from home, quickly came to feel like home. We also discovered a greater appreciation for our common mission as Jesuit schools and the companionship we share with people from diverse backgrounds as part of the largest educational network in the world. St. Ignatius School’s motto “In all Things to Serve” resonated with our students who have experienced Jesuit education as preparing them to be “Men for Others”. A retreat experience among the three schools, modeled after the Discovery Retreat that our sophomores experience at Fordham Prep, was a highlight of our time together. During the time of prayer, reflection and sharing, the boys from the three schools came to deepen their bonds of friendship and were each enriched in experiencing the faith that we share in common.
When we arrived at St. Ignatius they introduced us as “friends” from two Jesuit schools in the United States and referred to the students hosting ours as their “host brothers”. Friends and brothers were indeed what we became in those two weeks as we experienced what the delegates of JESEDU-Rio2017 envisioned-global companionship so that our school communities can see themselves as a part of a universal body with a universal mission. It is inspiring to know that we all share in this global companionship and universal mission with our brothers and sisters in Jesuit institutions throughout the world. -
Brian Carney, Fordham Prep
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Tag your photos with
#JSNGlobal
and SHARE your global journeys in & out of the classroom.
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"This was an incredible opportunity for our students," said Jesuit college counselor
Peter Baxter
, who chaperoned the trip along with Jesuit's assistant principal for discipline,
Dr. Angelo Pastore
. "Our purpose there was to listen and learn – for our guys to meet some of Colombia's youth social leaders, and to give our students a chance to see themselves as social leaders as well."
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In July 2018, a group of students from
Tampa Jesuit
had the opportunity to participate in an educational
immersion experience
with youth from
Fe y Alegría Colombia
where the goal was to create horizontal spaces for encounter, dialogue, and solidarity. Jessica Ángulo, from Fe y Alegría, shared some insights from this experience:
“The encounter in Cartagena, Colombia between Tampa Jesuit and Fe y Alegría was one of the most memorable experiences...as I was able to learn that although we are from different parts of the world, we are youth with dreams, joy, love, and a great desire to help others." Interested in connecting your students with Fe y Alegría? Contact us at
info@feyalegria.us
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Loyola High School, Los Angeles
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23 Loyola High School of Los Angeles students and three chaperones visited
Las Marías and San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of the post hurricane relief assistance and solidarity in July 2018. Students worked with some of the people who had never moved from the Las Marías Valley, let alone the island of Puerto Rico, for their entire lives. They listened to many stories of courage and determination. Their days were spent in home repair, water reclamation, senior community garden establishment, and local community center repairs. There was also a bit of basketball with the local teens during off hours!
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A Future Not Our Own
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts;
It is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work...
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the Master Builder
and the worker.
We are workers, but not master builders...
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future, that is not our own.
-Archbishop Oscar Romero
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The Jesuit Schools Network promotes the educational ministry of the Society of Jesus in service to the Catholic Church by strengthening Jesuit schools for the mission of Jesus Christ.
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